


Under Rubble

by Shastelly



Series: Shastelly’s Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Claustrophobia, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) Angst, Hurt Hunk (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt/Comfort, Pidge | Katie Holt Angst, Shiro (Voltron) Angst, Trapped, pinned down under wreckage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 12:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shastelly/pseuds/Shastelly
Summary: Hunk is pinned down under a collapsed building and Pidge is trapped with him





	Under Rubble

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for buried alive claustrophobia - I know it's one of my fears.

Bad Things Bingo

Pinned down by wreckage - Hunk

Pidge blinked her eyes. It was still dark. Her breath stuttered and caught, and a harsh cough forced itself out of her body. She felt like she was going to turn inside out as her lungs attempted to expel whatever it was that had them so irritated. Tears squeezed out of her clenched eyes and stars sparkled in the darkness threatening to take her back into oblivion.

"Shhh…easy…just try to breath slow." 

A warm hand rubbed her shoulder and she felt herself uncurl and try to push into the warmth a little.

"There you are, okay?"

Pidge felt her body ease the rest of the way. Air flowed into her lungs. It tasted stale and dirty but compared to earlier it was sweet. She tried to take stock, was she okay? Her chest hurt from the coughing, or maybe more than the coughing. Arms and legs seemed okay. Head was fuzzy, confused, aching.

"Um…my chest and head hurt." She managed. Her visor on her helmet was broken she realized as she stared through the jagged edges into a darkness lit only by the lights on her and someone else's armor. She reached a hand up and realized the dark edges of her world were more than dark, they were metal. Broken metal panels, poles, pieces, wires, a dark tangle of rubble trapping her in this space. A huge sheet was right over her only giving her inches of space. "Oh." Her voice shook and her breath whistled.

"Hey, don't do that, slow down or the coughing will come back." The warm voice spoke softly, and the hand was back.

"Hunk?" She turned to find him lying next to her. He was on his back, one arm stretched out to her. She could only see half of him. She crawled closer. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm stuck." He whispered as if he didn't want to think about it. 

She reached up and found that the metal panel inches above her was resting on Hunk's chest plate. She swallowed grimly. Altean armor must be tough stuff or something else was keeping it from crushing them completely.

"I feel like I'm holding up the world. It's heavy." Hunk sighed.

"Okay, Atlas." Pidge snarked, "Are you hurt anywhere else? Legs? Arms? Head?" Anything that she could actually fix, her mind begged.

"Um…I think my left leg is pinned too and my head and chest hurt." Hunk blew out a breath, "And I'm pretty much terrified." Tears started then and chocked sobs followed

Pidge found his hand and wrapped hers around it. She curled her body against his side. She shushed and hummed trying to comfort him and herself

"Pidge." After a while his tears had stopped and he'd laid quiet, exhausted, now he was speaking with her again. "Pidge." He whispered again, the word filtering through the fog in her mind. "You need to get out."

"No."

"Pidge, you are small, you might be able to crawl out."

"Shut up." She clung tighter to his arm and refused to listen to any of his arguments. She was not going anywhere without him.

Almost a varga later a buzzing sounded in her ears. She batted against her helmet, but that only made her head spin more. 

"Hunk, do you hear that?" Pidge groaned, stiff from having fallen asleep.

"Yeah, I think it's the coms." Hunk sounded tired too.

"…idge.." A voice came out of the buzzing.

"I think you're right." Pidge tried her own com. "Shiro?!"

"Pidge! I am so glad to hear your voice!" Shiro's voice emerged from the buzzing background. "Allura was able to amplify the radio signals. We couldn't reach you before. I have your locations from the armor. Is Hunk with you?"

"Yes. We are both here." Pidge answered, desparate to be rescued.

"Are you injured? Is Hunk?" Shiro knew they were trapped somewhere in the wreck of the old Galra building, but he didn't know what their circumstances were.

"We both hit our heads I think, and I might have a cracked rib. Hunk said his leg is hurt, but Shiro, he's pinned by a sheet of metal. It's literally resting on his chest." 

"Hunk?" Lance's voice sounded both panicked and small at the same time.

"I’m here buddy, just feeling a little pressed." Hunk spoke into the com, reassuring Lance.

"It's good to hear your voice." Lance sighed, he'd been nearly certain he'd never hear or see his two friends again when the building had come down.

"And now that you've heard them you can get in the damn pod." Keith hissed.

"No, wanna see them." Lance answered.

"Lance, are you hurt?" Hunk gasped.

"Not that bad. I'm fine." Lance breezed.

"You have a broken shoulder and a laser blast in your thigh." Keith hissed.

"Totally fine. I'll be here waiting for you. Shiro is going to get you out. The lions are there to help."

"You're going to dig us out?" Pidge looked up at the ceiling of their little bubble in concern. "Is that safe, I mean I don't want this to fall the rest of the way."

"Coran is monitoring the structure and watching for shifts. We have to move slowly." Shiro answered carefully. It was not safe, but there wasn't much choice.

"Pidge, crawl out of here, they could use your help." Hunk encouraged.

"I am not leaving you, stop saying that." Pidge growled.

"Look enough with the self-sacrificing bull, I already have to deal with Lance!" Hunk almost yelled back.

"Shut up. I can be Lance if I want to be." Pidge crossed her arms and frowned.

"Not what I would consider a good life choice." Lance laughed.

"Pidge, is there anything you can use to brace the metal plate that's on Hunk? Just to try to keep it more stable and less likely to shift?" Shiro was not going to try to argue with her, he was familiar with her stubborn streak.

"I'll look." Pidge managed to get herself turned around in the tight spot and found some chunks of concrete like material at the edge of their little bubble. She shifted them next to Hunk's chest and wedged one on top of the other, there was about half an inch between them and the metal. "It's not perfect, but I got some concrete pieces to work with. I'm going to add some more while you work, okay?"

"Great job, Katie." Shiro sighed. He didn't want to admit how afraid he was, one false move and he could crush both of them. Green and Yellow were the primary lions for this type of work, and they weren't as much help without their paladins. Allura was still getting readings from them and feeding them to Coran, who was using that with his other scans to tell Shiro what to do next.

It wasn't long until the ceiling of their bubble started to shake, and dust drifted down on them causing, Pidge to cough harshly. The shaking stopped and Shiro was back on the coms.

"Katie?" He asked over the fearful sound of her coughs.

"Her visor is broken Shiro. There's a lot of dust." Hunk replied, his hand rubbing circles on her back.

"Shit." Shiro snapped. There wasn't much he could do. He was surprised to hear Pidge laugh.

"Language, Shiro." she wheezed.

"Pidge, can you put something over your mouth and nose, maybe a glove or sleeve?" Coran chimed in.

"Yeah, oh, um no I guess I lost my gloves?" Pidge stared at her bare hands in surprise like they weren't hers.

"Pidge, get mine." Hunk offered his hand to her. She gratefully pulled the glove and slipped it into her helmet helping to filter out the particulates in the air.

"Can you hear me still?" She asked sounded muffled to herself.

"Yes, it's a little harder, but we can hear you. Let me know if the dust gets too bad, we can take a break and let it settle." Shiro stared back at the holoscreen in front of him. Time to get back to digging, there was still a lot to move before he reached them.

The digging continued and the walls around them shook. Pidge clung to Hunks side and no one mentioned the whimpers and cries or the tears streaming down their cheeks. Shiro called another halt when he heard Pidge coughing again.

"Don't stop for me." She managed between barks, but Shiro just sighed and waited for the dust to settle.

"Lance is in a pod. I’m coming down." Keith announced.

"How did you talk him into that?" Hunk asked.

"Didn't. He passed out. Pod said he'd be fine though." Keith quickly offered reassurance after he heard the swift intake of breath from Hunk. "How close are you, Shiro?"

"Close, maybe a meter. I'm having trouble figuring out which piece to move next. Everything is resting on everything, it's like trying to win at pick up sticks."

"Can we just crawl to where they are? Pry whatever off Hunk and drag them out?" Keith asked.

"Maybe?" Shiro turned to puzzle over his data. "Coran, what do you think?"

Pidge had stopped coughing but had also tuned out the discussion. She was exhausted and leaned heavily against Hunk, shivering slightly.

"Pidge." He whispered.

"Hunk, I'm so tired."

"Hey, stay away okay. Pidge? Pidge!" He yelled alerting the others.

"Hunk, what is it?" Shiro's voice cutting through Hunk trying to wake her.

"She said she was tired and then she passed out. Shiro, you have to hurry. I think something more is wrong." Hunk wished he could do more than touch her, but he was unable to move more than his arm.

"Okay, we're coming." Shiro asked Black to move another piece of the rubble. She was lifting the long bar, when it caught on a piece of concrete that shifted and fell, landing on another part of the pile, the whole thing rattled and shifted. Hunk screamed.

"Hunk! Please answer!" Shiro begged, but he didn't. "Pidge! Katie!" Shiro could feel tears falling down his face. He had Black move another large piece and then he went in himself, Galra arm activated, hoping to dig the rest of the way to them. Hoping to find them alive.

Pidge blinked and tried to move, but she felt heavy, like something was holding her down. An arm, Hunks arm was on her back. She was lying face down next to him. She shifted, but his arm didn't move. 

"Hunk?" She asked, curling her legs against her stomach at the pain that was registering there. She reached over to his shoulder and felt something rough and sharp, warm and wet. She blinked and tried to focus blurry eyes, the armor, it was a piece of armor. She drew a sharp breath; his chest plate was broken and the armor was digging into him. He was bleeding. She blinked and saw that the metal sheet now rested on her concrete blocks, but it was crushing him. She screamed.

"Katie?!" She could hear Shiro on the com and from somewhere near.

"Shiro! Fuck Shiro, it's crushing him, he's bleeding! Please?!" She begged sobs wracking her body and sending waves of pain through her chest and stomach.

"I'm almost there. Keith, over here!" Shiro waved the Red Paladin over to him. He was nearly there, and he would need Keith's help to get Hunk out from under the sheet. "Almost there, hang on."

Pidge rubbed Hunk's arm trying to give him comfort. She could hear desparate gurgling sounds coming from his chest. At least he was making sound, that meant he was alive. She found herself singing to him, it wasn't pretty it was ugly and sobbed, but she didn't know what to do.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…," her voice cracked, and she tried to breath deep, but it hurt too much. "You make me happy when skies are grey."

"Almost there, please, hang on." Shiro sounded nearly as desparate as she felt.

"You'll never know dear, how much I," she sobbed, "love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

"I'm here." She looked over to find she could see Shiro's legs. "Katie, I need to lift the metal that is on Hunk. I need you to crawl out."

"I won't leave him," she shrieked.

"No, crawl out and help Keith get Hunk, but I need you to hurry. I don't know how long I can hold this." 

Shiro's voice was deadly serious and calm and she took solace in that. She could do this.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"On three, Keith?" Keith must have nodded or something because Shiro began counting. "One, Two, Three!" The metal lifted from Hunk and Pidge began pushing his legs toward the opening. She thought if Keith could get a hold of a leg then she could get his shoulders and they could get him out quicker.

"Got him, Pidge!" Gloved hands grabbed Hunks ankles and started to pull. 

Pidge scrambled back and got behind his shoulder and began pushing. That's about the time Hunk began screaming. 

"It's okay Hunk, we're getting you out. Just a little longer. Hold on." Pidge wanted to be gentle, but more than that she wanted them both to be free.

"Hurry." The strain in Shiro's voice was clear.

Pidge dug her feet into the ground and put her shoulder into Hunk pushing as hard as she could. Keith was still pulling. She just kept moving her feet and pushing and pushing, muttering reassurances the whole time. A loud crash sounded near her feet and she screamed.

"Katie, it's okay, you're out. You're both out." 

She looked up and Shiro was kneeling next to her. Her whole body trembled, and she felt like her insides were on fire. She started crying and then coughing. Someone picked her up. Keith, she could tell from the height. Shiro was probably carrying Hunk. She couldn't stop coughing, blood splattered Keith's shoulder where she leaned, and Keith said something urgent to Shiro and then they were running. The jostling and bumping were too much, and she passed out.

The cold fall from the cryopods wasn't what she expected. She felt frozen stiff like she knew the fall was coming but couldn't stop it. Then warm arms were holding her up and a blanket was wrapped around her shoulders.

"Pidge?" Lance blinked back at her. 

Shiro had scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to one of the tables and sat her on top of it.

"Number 5, how are you feeling?" Coran peered at her all the while taking a scan.

She frowned at him and shivered.

"Cold then? Take a deep breath please?" He held the scanner over her chest as she took a deep breath and then another. 

It felt so good to breath without hurting.

"Very good. Completely healed and no impact to lung capacity." Coran nodded satisfied. 

Shiro gave her a quick squeeze and released her arms. Lance hovered and Keith came running in with a bowl of food goo.

"Ah, I missed it." He pouted.

"Well tough luck, I'm not getting back in so you can see it again." She snarked.

Lance laughed and Shiro chuckled.

"Yep, she's back." Lance patted her on the back a little roughly and she turned to glare at him.

"Where's Hunk?" She demanded.

"Oh, he's got about another three Varga." Lance pointed to the pod at the end still occupied with their Yellow Paladin. He shivered a little remembering waking up and finding Pidge and Hunk both in pods and both with long healing periods ahead of them. It had been very close.

"How long?" Pidge narrowed her eyes and turned to Shiro for the answer.

"Three quintants. We almost lost both of you."

Pidge nodded and used Lance as a ladder to climb off the table. She snagged her blanket and trudged over to plop herself in front of Hunk's tube. Keith sat next to her and put the food in her lap. Lance took the other side and dropped a water pouch for each of them. They sat and waited for the next three varga without speaking. Coran and Shiro made noises in the background and seemed to be getting things ready for Hunk, but the three paladins just sat shoulder to shoulder and waited.

When the timer went off Shiro and Coran caught Hunk. Lance had offered to let Hunk fall on him, but that idea had been dismissed when Keith slapped him in the back of the head for thinking of it. Coran helped Hunk over to the bed as he wobbled.

"Hey, Coran." He murmured.

As soon as he spoke Pidge was off like a shot and wrapped herself around his side like a little koala bear.

"Pidge! Oh, I am glad to see you too!" Hunk wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh hey, I need in on this," and Lance joined the hug, managing to get his long arms around both of them. "Group hug!" He declared looking meaningfully at the other males in the room. Keith shuffled over reluctantly until Hunk snagged his jacket with one arm and pulled him close. Shiro smiled and leaned onto Hunk. Coran chuckled and joined from the other side.

"Why was I not invited?" Allura asked from the doorway before crossing the room to join the hug fest.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses after that, Hunk and Pidge joined Lance in his aversion for small spaces and he and Pidge had nightmares for weeks following the incident. But Hunk was strong and not unfamiliar with facing his fears. And Pidge was determined and stubborn enough to fight though hers.

One night after Hunk had found Pidge working late and carried her off to her room, he leaned down and pressed a brotherly kiss to her forehead, "I love you too, sunshine."


End file.
